France’s most populous administrative zone, encompassing the capital Paris, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Palestinian district of Jerusalem, a move organizers say is designed to send a “political message” of solidarity with the Palestinians and their aspirations for a future capital in the city. The French region described the agreement as the “first of its kind.” The decision is a blow to Israel’s claim that the eastern sector is part of its united capital. A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said east Jerusalem “does not exist” as a separate entity and that the French council was “living in...

Where are the voices of condemnation from leftwing rabbis, the political elites, the compromised Pastors, and media shills? French Minister Warns of “Hundreds” of Homegrown Islamist Terrorists Algemeiner, October 11, 2012 Following the arrest of a terror cell responsible for planning and executing a grenade attack on a Jewish store in Sarcelles, France, earlier this year, the country’s interior minister has spoken out regarding the threat that homegrown Islamist terrorists pose to all French citizens and French Jews in particular. “We know that there are dozens, even hundreds of individuals who are capable of organising themselves like the group that...

Francois Hollande 'shared' his mistress Valerie Trierweiler with Sarkozy minister Francois Hollande "shared" his mistress Valerie Trierweiler with a minister from Nicolas Sarkozy's government in a Jules et Jim-style relationship, a new biography on France's first lady claims. La Frondeuse (The Troublemaker), claims that Miss Trierweiler, 47, had an affair with Patrick Devedjian, 68, a former economic recovery minister, in the early 2000s, but that the Socialist Mr Hollande, 58, muscled in when the Right-winger failed to commit himself further to the relationship. There followed a period "a bit like Jules et Jim," said the co-author Christophe Jakubyszyn, a close...

For eight years, at the initiative of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Paris-Ile de France and organized by the association A Bible Foyer, a "Marathon of the Bible" is held in Paris, Place de la Bastille. For four days and three nights, the Bible is read, discussed, prayed. A peaceful demonstration - I attended a part of this gathering here three or four years - is public and free. On September 30, the site of the event stated that the organizers had not received permission from the police headquarters for the rally scheduled for October 4 to 7. I received yesterday...

PARIS — Jewish and Muslim leaders here warned on Monday of rising anti-Semitism among young Muslims, two days after the police arrested 11 men and fatally shot one in raids in a handful of cities aimed at young radical French Muslims. President François Hollande met with Jewish and Muslim leaders on Sunday and promised tighter security at Jewish religious sites. He said that a new law would soon make it a crime to travel to militant training camps. “Nothing will be tolerated; nothing should happen,” Mr. Hollande said in a statement. “Any act, any remark will be prosecuted with the...

A flood of top-end properties are hitting the market as businessmen seek to leave France before stiff tax hikes hit, real estate agents and financial advisors say. "It's nearly a general panic. Some 400 to 500 residences worth more than one million euros ($1.3 million) have come onto the Paris market," said managers at Daniel Feau, a real-estate broker that specialises in high-end property. Read more on Newsmax.com: Business Fleeing France as 75% Income Tax Looms Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

The French president has promised the Jewish community a major increase in security after police shot dead a man suspected of targeting a kosher shop. François Hollande said there would be "total mobilization of the state to fight all terrorist threats". A suspected radical Islamist, believed to have thrown a grenade at a kosher grocery in Paris last month, died in a raid in Strasbourg on Saturday. Hours later, blank bullets were fired outside a Paris synagogue. …

After Hitler and Stalin, France bows to Islam. A new literary case easily explains what's going on in Paris. What eminent, now villified author Richard Millet has to say about it, talking to Meotti. The new French leftist government approved the mega project of the Islamic Emirate of Qatar to finance the disadvantaged suburbs, which are home to a significant number of France’s estimated 4-6 million Muslims. Is Paris on sale to the Gulf monarchies, which support - anywhere in the world - radical Islam and jihad? Qatar's $ 65 million objective is to peddle religious hatred and separation among...

Police carried out raids across France on Saturday after DNA on a grenade that exploded last month at a kosher grocery store led them to a suspected jihadist cell of young Frenchmen recently converted to Islam

The European Union is poised to ban imports of Iranian gas into Europe as part of its efforts to ratchet up pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. … The moves come as European governments and the United States are searching for new ways to pressure Tehran into scaling back its nuclear work after diplomacy foundered earlier this year. Tehran denies its work has any military intentions. …

The Free-Fall of Sergeant Magee January 3rd, 1943 Over Saint-Nazaire, France The war-torn skies over Europe were the scene of numerous acts of heroism, bravery, and courage. On a daily basis, men on both sides fought hard, wagering life and limb, in pursuit of the glory of their respective nations. In late 1942, the United States Army Air Forces had begun a campaign of daylight precision bombing raids over central Europe, determined to destroying the production and manufacturing infrastructure of the Third Reich. In September of 1942, ground elements of the 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived and set up base...

Unemployment in France touched 10.2% in April, a number last seen in 1999 according to data from Eurostat. click on chart for sharper image The question on newly-elected President Francois Hollande's mind is what to do about it. Economic Insanity Hollande's layoff clampdown solution according to Labour Minister Michel Sapin is to "make layoffs so expensive for companies that it's not worth it." France's new Socialist government is planning to ramp up the cost of laying off workers for companies in the coming months, its labour minister said on Thursday after data showed the jobless rate hit the highest...

The French government is trying to reign in its deficit by jacking up taxes, including the capital gains tax, which it wants to bring to the same level as the tax on income earned by the sweat of your brow—an old philosophical pillar of the French left. But an explosive essay published last Friday hit a nerve with entrepreneurs, venture capital investors, artisans, and mom-and-pop business owners. And their anger, which spread across the social media, the papers, and finally TV news, turned into an open revolt. The trigger was an editorial in La Tribune by John-David Chamboredon, Executive President...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/boston/press-releases/2012/fbi-seeks-assistance-in-locating-wanted-fugitive-ahmad-abousamra FBI Seeks Assistance in Locating Wanted Fugitive Ahmad Abousamra $50,000 Reward is Being Offered for Information Leading to His Arrest FBI Boston October 03, 2012 BOSTON—FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers announced today that the FBI is seeking the public’s assistance to locate wanted terrorist Ahmad Abousamra, a U.S. citizen from Mansfield, Massachusetts who left the United States in 2006. He may be living in Aleppo, Syria, with his wife, at least one child (a daughter), and extended family. A reward of up to $50,000 is being offered for information...

Obama say, "respect it!" Islamic Jew-hatred -- it's in the quran. Holy evil. The article is written in enemedia speak -- "immigrant," "north African," "Asian," and "youth" are all euphemisms for "muslim." Where is the worldwide outcry? No, only my ads elicit that kind of condemnation. Three young Jews wearing skullcaps severely attacked in France EJP LYON (EJP)---Three young Jews wearing skullcaps have been severely attacked Saturday night in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, by ten people, described as being of North-African origin, who beat them with hammers and iron bars, an act denounced as "extremely serious" by French Interior Minister Manuel...

French President François Hollande faced his first serious public backlash after up to 50,000 lined the streets of Paris on Sunday (30 September) in protest against his €37 billion austerity budget. Organizers of the event, which brought together around 60 left-wing groups, claimed that 50,000 protesters took to the streets to denounce the cuts program. "Today is the day the French people launch a movement against the politics of austerity," said the Front de Gauche president, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who finished fourth in the Presidential elections. …

France on Monday unveiled a package of reforms designed to increase access to abortion, including 100 percent reimbursement of medical costs by the state social security system. At present French women are only able to claim back between 70 and 80 percent of the costs, which average between 200 and 450 euros depending on whether the abortion is induced by medication taken at home or carried out by surgical procedure in a clinic. The change to full reimbursement was included in the 2013 social security budget unveiled on Monday. In a statement the government said the move was "necessary to...

If French President François Hollande thinks he can assuage the bond markets by dishing out tax-heavy austerity instead of genuine reform, he has been given very bad advice. His tragically-misguided budget offers no strategic plan to reverse -- or even to stop -- thirty years of slow national decline. He offers no worthwhile measures to slim the Leviathan state, now a Nordic-sized 55pc of GDP, without Nordic labour flexibility or Nordic free markets. He does not tell us how he will stem the slide in France’s share of eurozone exports over the last decade, down from 17pc to 13pc, or...

We're Getting Close To A Real Freakout About France... Joe WeisenthalOct. 1, 2012, 4:19 AM In the last several days, the chatter about the dismal situation in France has grown much louder. Today's PMI reading doesn't help. In case you missed it, it was a cliff dive. See the blue line. Then of course there was Hollande's new soak-the-rich austerity budget that has people wondering whether all the rich will flee, undermining the whole thing. In fairness to Hollande, the "cut benefits to the poor" austerity budgets of other countries haven't exactly worked wonders either. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard declares: Another domino...

Back in May I wrote a piece describing Francois Hollande’s election victory as emblematic of the EU’s decline, noting that “his government promises to be a symbol of everything that is wrong with Europe today.” True to his election campaign promise, the new French president, together with his prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, has outlined his plans for a 75 percent marginal income tax rate tax on anyone earning more than €1 million Euros a year. This is economic suicide for the second biggest economy in Europe, a supreme act of financial har-kiri for a country whose public debt has now...

France's Socialist government on Friday (28 September) unveiled €30 billion ($38.6 billion) worth of tax hikes and spending cuts in a bid to bring the public deficit in line with EU rules next year. Dubbed a "combat budget" by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, the fiscal plan is based on sharp tax increases for the rich (75% on millionaires) and for companies expected to bring in €20 billion ($25.7 billion).The budget is based on the assumption the economy will grow by 0.8 percent.This may prove difficult, as France's growth was zero this year and the continuing eurozone crisis is worsening the...

If you ever wondered what Obama would do in a reprise of America’s Got President, the Next Term, you only have to look at Obama’s European hero, French President Francois Hollande. The guy’s becoming a Taxinator: half man, half machine, all taxes, all the time. As a result France is becoming the juggernaut of worldwide taxation. While it stinks to be a producer of tax revenues in France, man if you want to leach off the rest of the European economy- or what’s left of it- France is the place for you. Hollande not only wants to the tax the...

Residents of a housing estate in the southern French city of Marseille forced a group of Roma (Gypsy) families that had installed themselves nearby to move on, before burning all that remained of their encampment, local press reported on Thursday. According to La Provence newspaper, police were called to separate dozens of the residents from the Roma families, who left the site in Marseille’s 15th arrondissement (district) “without violence”, police said. Everything that was left behind was gathered up and burned. Police said no arrests were made and that there had been no violence. The locals, according to La Provence,...

President Francois Hollande's Socialist government unveiled sharp tax hikes on business and the rich on Friday in a 2013 budget aimed at showing France has the fiscal rigor to remain at the core of the euro zone. The package will recoup 30 billion euros ($39 billion) for the public purse with a goal of narrowing the deficit to 3.0 percent of national output next year from 4.5 percent this year - France's toughest single belt-tightening in 30 years. But with record unemployment and a barrage of data pointing to economic stagnation, there are fears the deficit target will slip as...

Paris and its allies are working on an intervention to rid the region of the terrorist threat. The principle of military action against AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) is now established. The capitals of numerous countries are actively working to develop a politico-military strategy intended to rid the region of the terrorist threat. Because it is targeted by AQIM, France is at the forefront of future operation, which will be composed of the backbone forces of ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West Africa. Bogged down in Afghanistan for over ten years, their budget strained, the French army were warned...

France's President Francois Hollande showed a fine understanding of American politics Tuesday when he refused to endorse a US presidential candidate. Asked by a reporter at the UN General Assembly in New York whether he backed Democratic incumbent Barack Obama or his Republican rival Mitt Romney for the White House, a smiling Hollande shot back: "Who do you think?" "Are you aware that Mitt Romney never ceases to attack socialist Europe at his campaign rallies?" asked Hollande, Europe's most powerful socialist leader. "Yes, that's why I'll be careful not to say anything at all on this subject because, as you'd...

The US has angered vineyard owners across France with a plan to sell some of its wines in the European Union with a "chateau" or "clos" label. "What is at stake is the respect for tradition and quality," Laurent Gapenne of Chateau de Laville and president of the Federation des Grand Vins de Bordeaux told the Associated Press. For American vintners it is a question of selling more wine in their top export market, unshackled by historic language or restrictive terms in the world of 21st century globalization. "People use words in different ways," WineAmerica chief operation officer Cary Greene...

Contributed by Jan Bennink, a Dutch advertising guy and a columnist for the leading newspaper De Volkskrant. He is @superjan on twitter. This column was first published in Dutch on Volkskrant Opinie.As far as I can remember I’ve never been afraid of the government. When I was a young upstart protesting military parades with safety pins through my ears, I wasn’t afraid. Even if the place was swarming with soldiers. When I was the bass player in a punk band, the P.A. Splashing Tovs, screaming at all kinds of government injustice, I did not feel unsafe. And in protest...

France is set to ban the words "mother" and "father" from all official documents under controversial plans to legalise gay marriage. The move, which has outraged Catholics, means only the word "parents" would be used in identical marriage ceremonies for all heterosexual and same-sex couples. The draft law states that "marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender". It says all references to "mothers and fathers" in the civil code – which enshrines French law – will be swapped for simply "parents". Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told France's Catholic newspaper La Croix: "Who is to...

(Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's approval ratings have tumbled to their lowest level since he first took office in May, a new poll showed on Sunday, as France's grinding economic stagnation and record unemployment show little sign of easing. According to the Ifop poll for Sunday newspaper JDD, Hollande now has a 43 percent positive rating, down from 54 percent in August - one of the sharpest drops in over a decade.

This is the second Muslim arrested in France for threatening to kill the editors of Charlie Hebdo.Via Times Live: French police arrested a man for apparently calling on a jihadi website for the decapitation of the editor of a magazine that published cartoons mocking Mohammed, a judicial source said.The man was detained in the western city of La Rochelle for calling on the radical website for the head of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which on Wednesday published cartoons of a naked Prophet.â€śThe essential thing is not to let him live in peace,â€ť the man allegedly wrote.Police have opened a preliminary...

A 55-year-old French hunter who had to have his right hand amputated after his dog accidentally shot him said Monday he didn't blame the pet, which he still considered "adorable". The hunter, identified only as René, told France Bleu radio the dog accidentally pulled the trigger of his shotgun when he jumped on him while they were hunting Sunday in the Dordogne region. René said he was hunting with three dogs when two of them ran off after a deer while the youngest stayed behind. "He jumped on top of me for a cuddle" and accidentally fired the gun, shooting...

France announced Wednesday it will close 20 embassies across the Muslim world on Friday after French weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed naked, amid growing unrest over an anti-Islamic film that has left dozens dead.

Experts not involved in the study were skeptical, with one accusing the French scientists of going on a "statistical fishing trip" and others describing its methods as well below standard. The animals on the genetically modified (GM) diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage, according to the peer-reviewed study which was published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology and presented at a news conference in London. The researchers said 50 percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group.

Leading rabbi makes Vichy comparisons after Marine Le Pen, of the third-largest French political party, suggests giving ‘headscarf ban’ a Jewish twist French right-wing politician Marine Le Pen on Friday suggested Jews should be banned from wearing the kippa, or ritual head-covering for Jewish males, in public places. Le Pen heads the nationalist Front National (FN) party, the third-largest in France. She is the youngest daughter of French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, formerly the party’s president. Her suggestion comes less than two years after France banned the wearing of full Muslim veils in public. In response to Le Pen’s suggestion,...

FRANCE BANS ALL MUSLIM PROTESTS Gus LubinSeptember 21,2012 French interior minister Manuel Valls just confirmed that no protests would be allowed over the Mohammed cartoons, according to Reuters. "There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up," he said. Think that'll pacify the 10 percent of France who are Muslims?France has already closed 20 embassies around the world in fear of backlash. Too bad it cannot outlaw protests in these countries.

That didnâ€™t take long. PARIS/MARSEILLE, France Sept 20 (Reuters) â€“ Police detained a young man in southern France on Thursday on suspicion that he was planning a revenge attack on the staff of a satirical magazine which published cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad.Anti-terrorism magistrates near the Mediterranean port city of Toulon questioned the 18-year-old after he threatened in a message on Facebook to cut the throats of anyone he could find at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a judicial source said.The magazineâ€™s publication of cartoons ridiculing Mohammad added to the anger of Muslims already outraged over an anti-Islam film produced...

PARIS — When I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid opened at the Louvre more than 20 years ago, many argued that this 70-foot-tall structure had destroyed the classical beauty of one of the world’s great museums. But today, as crowds wait on long lines outside the pyramid, which serves as the Louvre’s main entrance, what once seemed audacious has become as accepted a part of the city’s visual landscape as the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe. Now the museum is again risking the public’s wrath as it introduces the most radical architectural intervention since the pyramid in 1989. Designed...

The editor of French satirical magazine Charles Hebdo stands by his decision to print a cartoon of a nude Muhammed after global protests against an anti-Islamic film. Riot police have been posted outside the magazine's offices in Paris and the French government will close its embassies in 20 countries on Friday in case of attack.

Two unknown attackers hurled firebombs (Molotov cocktails) at a Jewish supermarket in Sarcelles, near Paris, France on Wednesday. According to JSS News, only one of the homemade firebombs actually exploded; the second proved to be a dud. "It happened around noon,” Moshe Cohen-Sabban, president of the Jewish communities of Val d'Oise, told the AFP news agency. But the incident appears to have been even more serious, according to the description by Sammy Ghozlan, president of the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitic Acts (BNVCAA). Ghozlan said the two attackers threw “a grenade into the supermarket.” Both had their faces covered,...

France announced Wednesday it will close 20 embassies across the Muslim world on Friday after French weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed naked, amid growing unrest over an anti-Islamic film that has left dozens dead. The French foreign ministry announced Wednesday that France will close 20 of its embassies in Muslim countries this Friday following the publication of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons by satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Major protests in the Muslim world generally take place after Friday prayers. The illustrations, which show the Prophet Mohammed naked and refer to the incendiary US-made film which has been...

A French satirical magazine is set to publish several cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday, a move that is likely to inflame the Islamic faithful and militants who have already rioted in more than 20 countries over a movie mocking the prophet. Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited and considered blasphemous by Muslims. Cartoons of Muhammad published in Denmark in 2005 and then reproduced in newspapers across Europe triggered riots throughout the Mideast and Africa. Churches and embassies were torched and at least 100 people died in the outbreaks and police crackdowns. The magazine “Charlie Hebdo” has confirmed...

The French Magazine Firebombed Last Year Is Planning To Anger Hardline Islamists Again Tomorrow Adam TaylorSep. 18, 2012, 2:05 PMCharlie Hebdo, a long-running French satirical magazine, angered hardline Islamic groups last year with a magazine guest-edited by "Mohammad", the Islamic prophet. For their efforts, the magazine eventually found that their offices firebombed. Luckily no-one was injured, and the magazine went on to put up another shocking issue, with a cover that showed a traditionally-dressed Muslim man (perhaps Mohammed?) sloppily kissing a male Charlie Hebdo cartoonist. Now, according to Le Monde, the editors of Charlie Hebdo are preparing to cause controversy...

The last time Charlie Hebdo mocked Mohammed their Paris offices were firebombed. (AFP) Â— Fears that a wave of anger in the Islamic world could spread to Europe mounted as it emerged a French magazine was planning to publish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed.Satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo confirmed that its latest edition contains several cartoons featuring Mohammed that the publicationâ€™s editor said would â€śshock those who will want to be shocked.â€ťThe magazine is due to hit the streets today against a background of protests across the Islamic world over a crude US-made film that mocks Mohammed and portrays Muslims as...

French President François Hollande has vowed to shut down the country’s oldest nuclear power station by 2016, and in a wide-ranging speech on the environment, says his government would reject development of shale gas using a controversial extraction method known as ‘fracking’. Hollande, who took office in May, announced on Friday (14 September) he would shut the Fessenheim nuclear station in Alsace, near the German border, by the end of 2016, sticking to his election pledge to halt its operations by the end of his mandate in 2017. … France derives 75% of its electricity from nuclear production, more than...

Lawyers for Britain's royal family will make a criminal complaint against the photographer who took pictures of Prince William's wife Kate sunbathing topless in the south of France, William's office said Sunday.

In the vicinity of Hermeskeil, a small town some 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Trier in the Hunsrueck region in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, archaeologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have confirmed the location of the oldest Roman military fortification known in Germany to date. These findings shed new light on the Roman conquest of Gaul. The camp was presumably built during Julius Caesarsâ€™ Gallic War in the late 50s B.C. Nearby lies a late Celtic settlement with monumental fortifications known as the "Hunnenring" or "Circle of the Huns," which functioned as one of the...

PARIS - A French police official said a few dozen people protested in front of the U.S. Embassy in Paris before police broke up the demonstration. Television images showed Muslim protesters praying on the wide sidewalks in front of the embassy....

A militant Islamist leader whose forces have just conquered two-thirds of the West African state of Mali vows to launch holy war against the West. Omar Ould Hamaha, the military commander of Ansar Dine, or "Defenders of the Faith", which has scored a stunning victory in Mali against the failed state's armed forces, now controls a region larger than France which includes three paved runways that could be used to fly in weapons or drugs. He said: "Even if they (western forces) don't come here, when we have finished conquering France, we will come to the USA, we will come...